Hi guys im currently trying to understand Taoist master Liu Yi Mings writings - he is 18th century Daoist immortal and he joins Taoism,confucianism and buddhism into a unity in his writings so i thought it fitting that im on the right forum for your guys input and help.Ive been reading his writings for some time now and im trying to understand authentically Buddhism and Taoism. The essence of what im trying to understand his explanation of how to tame/subdue the human mind and arise the mind of tao(""the Nurturing true qi Samadhi"" 入於养气之三昧矣)... so he does a commentary on Lu Dong Bins tablet on how to cultivate true Samadhi..So im trying to grasp his exact Chinese and what he means of the method/technique without falling into emptiness or grasping at forms which liu frequently warns about regarding many practices.

So ill highlight the bits im wanting the help with if anyone can assist me with thisAnd any explanation on how to do this,and i will be listening in earnest ,i constantly think about this in the background of my mind through the day for months,im not thinking of it conciously but its subconciously there when i encounter something and i internally am drawn back to this chapter and dont know why but i feel it holds something i cant understand(if that makes sense,i hope it does) ,its always there and i know it holds keys to helping me understand i just cant understand it fully ,and dont know exactly how to do it or what it means

the key chapter in Lu Dong Bins tablet is titled 降心为不为。Ill put the whole chapter at the bottom of the pagenow lius commentary......

道心者，本来不识不知，顺帝之则之心meaning? ，为真心；人心者，后起有识有知七情六欲之心，为假心降心者，降其人心之假也。然降人心，非是守心空心-"do Not observing the mind or emptying mind"，亦非是强制定心，须要顺其自然HOW?。悟真云：顺其所欲，渐次导之"what is meaning of how to do this?"。只此二语，便是降心妙诀。故曰降心为不为。曰为者，心必降也；曰不为者，不强降也。降而不降，不降而降 ，有用用中无用，无功功里施功矣。盖人之顽心，积习成性meaning?，如火炼成顽铁一块 ，至坚至固，牢不可破。若束之太急，是以心制心，心愈多而块愈坚，反起心病，阴符经云：火生於木，祸发必克者是也。故降心必用渐修之功方能济事。渐修之功，无伤於彼，有益於我，为而不为矣。

上言养气无言无守，似乎一无所为矣，夫人有生以后，先天之气充足，阳极必阴，於此而能保全先天之炁不失者，其惟上德之圣人乎？其次中下之人，一交后天，先天之炁潜藏，后天之气用事，阳渐消，阴渐长，历劫根尘俱发，一身气质俱动，识神张狂，客邪作乱，当此之时，四大一身皆属阴，不知何物是阳精。虽欲养炁，无处可养，而亦不得其养，祖师黄鹤赋云：上德者以道全其形，是其纯乾之未破；下德者以术延其命，乃配坎离而方成。以道全形者，无为之事；以术延命者，有为之事。上德之人，先天之气未失，纯阳之体，守中抱一，即可全其本来之真形；中下之人，先天之炁已伤，阳为阴陷，必须窃阴阳，夺造化，先固命基，从有为而入无为，方能成真。又古仙云：还丹最易，炼己最难。又沁园春云：七返还丹，在人先须炼己待时。炼己之功，莫先於降心，但降心须要识得心，心有人心道心之分，有真心假心之别。道心者，本来不识不知，顺帝之则之心，为真心；人心者，后起有识有知七情六欲之心，为假心。真心益人性命，假心伤人性命。降心者，降其人心之假也。然降人心，非是守心空心，亦非是强制定心，须要顺其自然。悟真云：顺其所欲，渐次导之。只此二语，便是降心妙诀。故曰降心为不为。曰为者，心必降也；曰不为者，不强降也。降而不降，不降而降，有用用中无用，无功功里施功矣。盖人之顽心，积习成性，如火炼成顽铁一块，至坚至固，牢不可破。若束之太急，是以心制心，心愈多而块愈坚，反起心病，阴符经云：火生於木，祸发必克者是也。故降心必用渐修之功方能济事。渐修之功，无伤於彼，有益於我，为而不为矣。动静知宗祖，无事更寻谁。(observing movement and calm know the ancestor of your clan, without work how can you find it?)先天真一之气，为生天生地生人之祖气，无理不具，无时不在，所谓性命之宗祖，存此者圣，昧此者凡，但此气落於后天，隐而不现，即或一现，人为利名所牵，私欲所扰，当面错过，旋有而旋失。欲寻此气，先要认得道心。盖先天之气，藏於道心也。道心为体，先天之气为用，同出异名，道心即修道之宗祖。夫道心者，主人也；人心者，奴仆也。认得道心为宗祖，以主人而使奴仆，奴仆听命於主人，不降而自降，一动一静，皆是道心运用，即人心亦化为道心，内无妄念，外无妄事，内外安静，客气难入，处於无事之境矣。能至无事，空空洞洞，只有道心，别无他物，此外更寻谁耶？

1. Can you please post up a traditional character version? Not that I can't read jianti, but originally this would be in trad characters, after all. Some things do get garbled in the transition.

2. Can you maybe be a little clearer on what exact passages you want help with?

3. Perhaps the Mods can move this to the Chinese Buddhist Forum. It's specifically Chinese after all, and not so much Exploring Buddhism, as seeing how it developed in China during the late period (Qing).

Wherever you would like to put this post will be good and helpful im sureheres the traditional Text i found online ,ill highlight the parts of the text that im wanting clarity on Ill list the Lines of this text that i want help with understanding and also translating to understandable clear English if you possibly canI put this post in exploring Buddhism because i did not know where to put this post .

1In this Line on the real heart mind i dont understand 道心者，本來不識不知，順帝之則之心，為真心---- it seems to directly translate as follow the emperor principle heart, i cant understand it-- maybe you can clarify its meaning and give explanation?順帝之則之心

2 the next part is his secrets and key to understanding how to subdue(tame) the human heart/mind 降心者 ,降其人心之假也. So in this line 降心者，降其人心之假也。然降人心，非是守心空心，亦非是強制定心，須要順其自然 ----what does Liu mean about one must follow this naturally? how does one do that? in one context does liu mean? in what way is he implying one should follow the heart mind naturaly to subdue it? im confused about his method of subduing the heart/mind here and how does he do it?

3 he further explains how to subdue(tame) the heart mind quoting a quote from Wuzhenpian (understanding reality- english-Thomas Cleary translated this book) 悟真雲：順其所欲，漸次導之 so does Liu say "follow the desires,gradually directing and guiding"? ---what method is Liu getting at here and how do i follow this? ,what is the books intent here and how do i understand this line so i can put into practice.I know this line is important because he calls the two words wonderful secrets "只此二語，便是降心妙訣"

4 曰為者，心必降也；曰不為者，不強降也。降而不降，不降而降，有用用中無用，無功功裏施功矣--- here he says about not forceful subduing,as like above this seems to be his main device on how to tame the mind ,i get a feeling its not a form of sitting and meditating but a way to bring about Samadhi

5 蓋人之頑心，積習成性，如火煉成頑鐵一塊，至堅至固，牢不可破....- im wanting a direct translation of each character here(so it will help with my chinese) and general explanation on this part

6 does this 煉己之功，莫先於降心 mean.--- "first there is none who do not first subdue the human heart mind ?"= first subdue the human heart